


please just stay with me

by theartofit



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Bang Chan is a Good Friend, Memory Loss, POV Alternating, Superpowers, hyunjin can jump timelines, hyunjin has an existential crisis everywhere, hyunjin sleeps a lot, i am terrible as tagging, lee felix is indirectly a fairy here, the gov is trying to chase hwang hyunjin, this was written for staytober, will add tags as the story goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26767039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofit/pseuds/theartofit
Summary: Hyunjin wakes up in a field of grass with no prior memories and the feeling that something is missing. With a mysterious message written on his arm and dreams that feel a little too real to be something his brain just makes up, Hyunjin sets out to find some answers.Or alternatively, Hyunjin has the power to jump through different timelines and alternate universes. His friends are always joining him on these adventures, so he’s not going to be lonely. The catch? Bad things will always follow and it’s up to him & his memory loss to find his scattered friends and deal with it.A STRAY KIDS AU loosely based on the following songs/MVs: Ex, Blueprint, Astronaut, Side Effects, Chronosaurus, Back Door, Get Cool, Awkward Silence, Hello Stranger, 3rd Eye, Hellevator, Neverending story, & B Me.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 25





	1. i must've really lost my mind, i'm not sure

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first published work on here and im still trying to get use to the format so pls bare with me. this is also for staytober so chapters will be released a couple of days within each other. also also, special thanks to my best friend and beta reader for encouraging me to do this, even if i was joking.

_“God, you always do this!”_

Hyunjin’s eyes shot right open, the bright morning nearly blinding him. A wave of guilt and fear washes over him as his eyes water up from the shift in dark to bright light. He groans in pain, his hands shielding his eyes from the… blue sky?

Hyunjin moves his hands away and blinks a couple of times, taking in the clear blue sky above him and watching a bird fly across. He was just dreaming, so there’s no need for him to feel so terribly guilty. _Right?_

The sound of a chicken squawking in the far distance snapped him out of his thoughts before he realized something much bigger than his terrible dream. He was outside, waking up from a slumber in the grass. 

He sat straight up instantly, as if he had been electrocuted. He scanned around frantically, hoping he didn’t get knocked out in the middle of a forest. To his relief, there was a nice house a couple of feet behind the bush he was right next to. Hyunjin pushed himself off the floor, giving himself a nice stretch before thoroughly dusting away any loose grass, dirt, or bugs that could’ve been on him before walking towards the house. 

It seemed like Hyunjin had fallen asleep in the garden of a strange house that he was desperately hoping was his. He cautiously stepped onto the patio, his stomach doing nervous backflips as he squinted to see if anyone was inside the house through the glass panel windows and sliding door. After a second, his fingers gently landed onto the door handle and pushed the door open. Hyunjin poked his head inside, quite surprised the door wasn’t locked for some reason. “Hello?” He called out, scared that someone was going to run down the stairs with a bat. 

After what seemed like a minute of complete silence, Hyunjin stepped in and closed the door behind him. The house was a mess. There was an untouched birthday cake on the table, minus a small dent in it that looked like it could be made by someone who was too eager to have some cake. There were two candles on it, looking quite new but the blackened tips said otherwise. Hyunjin frowned. If this house was his, then did that mean this birthday cake was for him? He walked closer to the kitchen island, hoping to find a name or something written on the cake. 

But there was just plain white frosting.

After his disappointing discovery, Hyunjin moved towards the stairs, passing by the living room that had a train set in the middle of the way. There were chalk pastels lying all over the floor with eerily blank pages by them as well. Hyunjin’s frown deepened. _All these drawing pastels and nothing on the paper? Not even lingering dust from the art material itself?_ But his thought process was cut off by him getting startled.

There was just a single bed sheet in the corner of the stairs after the first couple of steps and Hyunjin thought it was someone sitting there. He cautiously picked the bed sheet up and brought it along with him as he reached the next floor of the house, an eerie feeling starting to grow in the back of his mind. This house didn’t feel right to Hyunjin. It didn’t feel like home to him.

He finally reached the next floor of the house. There were only two doors, both open and revealing the rooms. A bedroom, which Hyunjin presumes was his, on the left and a bathroom directly across on his right. He walked over to the bedroom, peeking in to double check that there was no one else in the room before he stepped in. If he thought the living was a mess, then this room was absolutely trashed. 

Everywhere, except the bed, was littered with clothes. The floor was barely visible underneath the scattering of clothes and the desk chair was nearly gone underneath the pile. Oddly enough, the only untouched item in the room was the neatly made bed. A slight smile came to Hyunjin’s face as if this sight reminded him of something… or someone, but for some apparent reason, he can’t remember.

His smile instantly disappeared and was once again replaced with a frown. He sighed, throwing the bed covers onto the bed and slowly started to clean up the room. Hyunjin presumed that the clothes were still new and opened the closet to start hanging up the shirts. Surely enough, the closet was completely empty.

“Well, at least I knew where all the clothes went.” He scoffed to himself as he picked out a hanger for the shirt he was holding. Once the room was organized and the bed sheet folded, Hyunjin picked up the last shirt and shorts, deciding he should take a shower. The weird icky feeling was still prominent in the back of his mind and he thought a shower could wash it all away. 

He threw the clothes on top of the countertop and turned to face the mirror. His eyes widened at the sight of him, as if he had never seen himself until right there. His fingers slowly came up to touch the long blond hair tucked behind his ear. “That’s nice.” He said instinctively before raising an eyebrow. “What am I talking about?”

Shaking his head, he reached out for the single red toothbrush and the toothpaste to quickly brush his teeth. Once he finished freshening up, he turned on the showerhead to give it time to warm up before undressing himself. Hyunjin tossed the green sweater and jeans aside before he stepped into the shower, soaking in the delightful warmth of the water. With his left hand, he closed the glass panel besides him and ran his right hand through his wet hair. He stopped short when he found an odd marking on his inner elbow. It was some quote or something written in red ink. He brought his arm down and tried to wipe the mark away with his thumb. It didn’t disappear.

Hyunjin wiped away the water near his eyes before reading the quote. “The North Star finds melancholy in this time.”

He dropped his arms and muttered the quote once more under his breath. “Why did I get this tattooed?” He closed his eyes, trying to rack his brain for some reason he would get this on his arm. Maybe it was a quote from his favorite movie or book… but he couldn’t even remember his favorite movie or book. 

“What the hell is going on with me?” He groaned out loud, slapping his face gently as if hitting himself was going to help him. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

Just as he leaned his head against the shower wall, a memory flashed before his eyes.

There was a boy who looked as if he was holding onto his hand. He was bleeding from the side of his head and looked as if he was hanging onto life by a thread. His dark hair was sticking out from different ends, like a mad scientist. Despite the fact that he was practically dancing with the Grim Reaper, he still wore a kind smile and had bright eyes, like they held the stars of the sky. “Hyunjin,” he croaked, breathing heavily. “You’ll come and find me again, don’t worry.”

And that was it.

The vision startled Hyunjin, causing him to knock over the shampoo and body wash off the shelf. He yelped as it fell on his foot, pouting as he lifted his foot to massage the pain away. After he recovered from his pain, he thought about the boy from his vision. He knew deep down in his heart who the boy was but his head couldn’t think straight. Was this boy related to the tattoo on his arm?

Hyunjin groaned in frustration. “That’s enough, I need to finish showering.” 

Somewhere, miles and miles away from Hyunjin, a boy with messy dark hair wakes up in the safe comforts of his bed. There was no injury on the side of his head, just bad bed hair from sleeping on his side. He rubbed his eyes, revealing the brightness of a million stars dancing inside. He didn’t have his usual bright smile and was carrying a frown instead. He turned to face the window in his room, as if he was searching for something. He sighed before he whispered softly to himself.

“Come and find me, Hwang Hyunjin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe so i hope you enjoyed that! i know it's pretty short but there's more to come so look out for that! thank u so much for reading, it means a lot :D


	2. the answers the world has given me are wrong

Once he finished enjoying his nice, warm shower and was totally not thinking about the boy or the meaning of his tattoo, Hyunjin found himself sitting in the middle of the bed and hugging his knees. Since the minute he woke up in his garden, he knew something was wrong. He couldn’t remember what he did _yesterday_ and his gut was telling himself that this is not normal.

But what was wrong? He couldn’t pinpoint. Frustrated with his own mind, Hyunjin crawled off the bed and onto the desk chair. He ran his fingers across the clean desk and toyed with the pens lying besides each other neatly. His hand slowly fell to the drawers underneath the table and he pulled it open. A part of him was hoping he could find answers, that all of his frustration and confusion could disappear with the help of a mystery item in the drawer but he knew better than that. 

Just as he expected, there was nothing much in the drawers. There were sticky note, a blank notebook, and a phone. He picked up the phone and turned it on. It had a default home screen, the time announcing that it was almost 12:00PM and that it was March 21st. Hyunjin clicked the home button to unlock the phone. Like everything he’s seen today, the phone was also blank. Yeah, there were the default apps, but every app was completely blank. No photos, no contacts, no messages or notes. Nothing. 

It was as if he had created a blank slate for himself. Just a boy, who’s birthday was probably yesterday, living in a beautiful house by himself with no friends… or memories for that matter. Hell, he just realized he only knew his first name and not his own _last name_. 

Hyunjin’s stomach growled, snapping him out of his drowning state-of-mind. _Guess it’s time to make something to eat._

He tucked the phone away in the pocket of his shorts before heading downstairs to the kitchen. He opened the fridge in hopes to find leftovers to eat, but his hopes were not met. In the entire fridge, there was only a _single_ bowl of a couple of eggs and a pitcher of water. 

“Do I _really_ live like this?” Hyunjin raised his eyebrows in disbelief, but he took the bowl of eggs nevertheless. There were only eight (“What a specific number,” he thought to himself) eggs in the bowl so he decided two sunnyside would suffice for his brunch. A couple of minutes later, Hyunjin was sitting on the couch with his sunnyside eggs balanced on his lap as he scrolled through the same 5 channels the TV had. Three of the channels were news channels reporting about some organization bringing in people with special abilities for safety while the other two were cooking shows. Bored out of his mind, he opted for one of the cooking shows. 

Halfway through watching a little girl make pink fondant for her cake, Hyunjin was finished with his two eggs and left the plate abandoned on the coffee table. His eyelids felt abnormally heavy, despite waking up just two hours prior. He blinked a couple of times and tried to keep his attention on the girl who was now covering the cake with the fondant, but before he could see the outcome of the cake, he fell into another deep slumber.

Unlike last time, he could visibly see his dreams, as if he was actually living in it. 

Hyunjin dreamt of oceans that were bluer than the sky he woke up to that morning. He could feel the warmth of the sun and sand tickling his skin. He could quite literally hear the laughter of someone and feel their hand in his. He was surrounded by seven other figures with complete blurs for faces, running across the coastline playing a stupid little game. He watched the blue sky turn purple as everyone gathered around a bonfire, spilling all their secrets to each other. Hyunjin could feel the hand of his friend on his cheek before they spoke softly to him. 

_“You’re never alone, Hyunjin.”_

But when Hyunjin opened his eyes and sat up on the couch in a daze, no one was there. There was no friend putting their hand on his cheek and making him feel more loved than he had ever felt in his entire life. It was just Hyunjin in an eerie house with remnants of a party he couldn’t claim his. 

Hyunjin needed answers now. He couldn’t live through the rest of today with this looming feeling of missing something or that this life he had right now was just a shell of something fake. Hyunjin got up from the couch and quickly headed back to his room. He opened the closet and pulled out a backpack on the top shelf, something he had found earlier when he was putting his clothes back. He threw the backpack onto the bed and walked over to the bedside drawers, searching for anything he could use if he were to suddenly leave home.

As if hearing his wishes, there was $500 dollars and some extra dollar bills tucked neatly in a white envelope in the last drawer. Hyunjin sighed in relief, taking the charger and watch that was besides it. He packed up his newly found items into the backpack before turning back to the closet. Hyunjin grabbed a couple pairs of clothes and folded them in as well. 

Once he was packed and changed out of his comfortable clothes into some jeans and a hoodie, he left the place. Hyunjin locked the door behind him with the key he found by the door and swung the backpack onto his shoulder before running away. He didn’t know where the hell he was going, but he knew what he was looking for wasn’t going to be here.

Meanwhile, the boy with star-like eyes was sprawled across his bed, writing in a small notebook as fast as his hand could. He had a weary frown drawn across his face as he tried to recount through his memories. Besides him were scattered notes, tales recounting every past adventure he had ever been on with all the little detail that the boy could remember. The boy paused for a second, biting his lip in thought. When nothing came to him, he put the pen down and buried his head in his hands, sighing in frustration. 

“I’m literally going to get nothing done if I keep hitting this memory block.” The boy sighs, rolling off the bed and onto his feet. He readjusts the black shirt he’s wearing before shoving his hands into his short’s pockets and walking over to his corkboard wall. Pinned on the walls were pictures of him and friends, including Hyunjin. Not all of them were printed pictures, most of them were drawings he had done himself when he couldn’t get a hold of a camera during their adventures, but it didn’t mean they were any less special than the others. His gaze fell to a printed photo of their last adventure. He was standing with four others, arms thrown across each other while three of his friends sat in chairs in front of them, smiles big and brighter than the sun itself. They were having a photoshoot in the middle of some field that the boy had taken them to and one of them had a brilliant idea to take pictures there. 

It seemed so stupid and childish at the time, but boy, was he glad that he managed to get a picture of the eight of them before Hyunjin decided to jump timelines again and scatter them across the country once more. 

_Ah yes, Hyunjin._ The boy smiled to himself sadly, his fingers tracing Hyunjin’ outline in the picture. He knew Hyunjin was unlike any other boy, blessed (or cursed as Hyunjin used to say) with the ability to jump to different timelines and alternate universes. The wonderful thing about his ability was that he always brought his friends along for the journey, but for the price of a bad omen following them and all their memories, except Chan.

Chan was the eldest in their friend group and had a heart bigger than gold. He didn’t have any special abilities like his friends who could fly, run super fast, or duplicate themselves. He can’t tell the near-future, manipulate realities, or even heal others. Chan was just Chan and the most exciting thing (in his eyes) was the fact that he could not be affected by any of his friends’ abilities. Chan would still be able to move fast or fly if his friends held onto him and he could definitely see one’s duplication ability being put to use. He just wouldn’t see the alternate realities his friend drew, be healed, or seen in any vision of the future. But most importantly, Chan wouldn’t get memory-wiped when Hyunjin decides to jump. Chan was simply “normal” as he put it and to make up for his shortcomings, he tried his damn hardest to help Hyunjin whenever they got placed in a new adventure.

Chan sighed, retracting his hand from the picture and stepped back a bit, taking in the entire wall. He wondered where his friends were and what they were doing right now. His eyes drifted back to a drawing of him and Hyunjin during the Medieval times. Chan wondered how Hyunjin was doing and how he was holding up, knowing that Hyunjin would be suffering memory flashes. He sighed once more. 

“I miss you, Hyunjin.”


	3. let's go to find the stars without a clue

Hyunjin was currently sitting on a swing at some random park by his house. 

About 10 minutes ago, Hyunjin had made the executive decision to leave his house in search of some answers, anything that could help relieve the feeling of him missing something in his guts or why he can’t remember anything prior to this morning. That plan went sideways very quickly once Hyunjin was a block away from the house and realized he doesn’t know where he’s going. Eventually, he found himself standing behind a fence, watching 3 little kids running around and playing a game of tag. 

Hyunjin smiled to himself at the sight of them, but was immediately cut off by an abrupt flashback. 

_He was a little kid running across the field before he went tumbling into the grass. It was the same boy from previous memories. Hyunjin could easily tell by the way the boy smiled at him, even if his face was blurred. He pushes the boy off and pouts. “That hurts!”_

_The boy instantly stops smiling and reaches over for his arm. “Wait, I’m sorry.” He gently massages his arms and the wrinkles on his forehead deepen. Hyunjin pushes himself to sit with the boy, reaching out with his free hand to poke his wrinkles. “Stop that, you look like my grandpa.”_

_The boy laughs, removing his hand from Hyunjin’s arm. “Hyunjin, we literally don’t know any of our family members.” Hyunjin shrugs, brushes the grass off his jacket. “Fine, then you look like Dr. “Grumpy” who takes my blood tests. He has wrinkles deep enough for me to hide coins in them.”_

_The boy throws his head back in laughter, causing Hyunjin to break into a fit of giggles. “You’re so mean.”_

_Hyunjin threw his hands up in defense, a sly smile on his face. “You know I’m not wrong!”_

_Before the boy could say something, another boy came rushing over and tackled Hyunjin into a hug. He too, had a slightly blurred face, but Hyunjin could make out his sweet smile and the skin-colored constellations scattered across his face. He looked like an ordinary boy, aside from the fact that he had white bird-like wings on his back. Hyunjin reached out and stroked the boy’s wings gently, watching the smile on his face grow bigger. “So I’m guessing flying lessons went well today?” The boy besides Hyunjin asks as the winged boy makes himself comfortable on Hyunjin’s lap. He nodded enthusiastically before turning to Hyunjin. “Did you find out what your ability is today?”_

_Hyunjin bit his lips nervously, debating whether or not he should lie to the precious boy in front of him. But with one look of his curious face, Hyunjin gave into his doubts. “Yeah…”_

_The boy besides him looks at him in shock. “Well? What is it?”_

_“I heard Dr. “Grumpy” tell another doctor that he thinks that whatever power I have, it’s nothing like what he’s seen before.” Hyunjin explains softly, avoiding eye contact by fiddling with the grass. The boy besides him frowns. “That’s not a bad thing though, right?”_

_A moment of silence falls upon the trio as Hyunjin rips the grass blades from its roots. The boy reaches over and places his hands on Hyunjin’s to stop him from ripping any more blades. “Hyunjin?”_

_Hyunjin sighs in defeat. “My ability… It’s dangerous. They said I can really hurt people. I could hurt you guys… all my friends.”_

_The winged boy frowns, placing his hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. “But you won’t. You wouldn’t, right?”_

_Hyunjin looks up to meet his gaze. He doesn’t have to see their faces clearly to know that they were both looking at him with such certainty, like they’re willing to bet their lives on the fact that Hyunjin would never hurt his own friends._

_And he promises them both that he would never let any harm touch his friends._

The flashback ends when Hyunjin feels a sharp pain in his hand. He realized that he had been gripping onto the metal fence a little too harshly and quickly let go to relieve him from the pain. Hyunjin scans the grass field in front of him, searching for the 3 kids he had just seen moments earlier, but they were gone. 

Hyunjin sighs and keeps walking, this time leading himself into the park. He passes by a colorful piece of metal with handle bars that he experimentally pushes. As he watches it spins, he feels a wave of guilt and nostalgia growing in his gut. Hyunjin shakes his head to clear his thoughts, walking past the playground equipment and eventually finds himself where he is now; on a swing set. 

Hyunjin sits on the swings, swinging lazily as he drowns in his mind for what seems like the nth time that day. The sun was slowly falling, leaving the time to be somewhere around 4PM, but that didn’t phase him one bit. He was too busy being angry at himself for not having a plan and feeling guilty like he broke the promise he made.

But did he break it? He has so many questions and none have been answered. Hyunjin looks down at his hands before deciding to roll up his right sleeve to reveal the red tattooed writing. “The North Star finds melancholy in this time.” Hyunjin whispers to himself, tracing the tattoo with his finger. “Does that mean I need to go north?”

Hyunjin sits in his own silence for a bit before he rolls his sleeve back down and looks up at the sky. The blue was slowly transforming into a golden orange, which means night will arrive soon. Hyunjin closes his eyes, inhaling deeply. “Can I please have a sign of where I should go next?” He asks no one in particular. 

Almost as if the heavens feel pity for him, the sound of a bus filled the quiet park. His eyes shot right open, following the sound. A yellow bus was about to turn the corner and arrive at the bus station a couple of feet away from Hyunjin. A smile grew on his face.

Maybe this was his sign.

Chan found himself growing increasingly frustrated with himself in his room. He had given up on his search on his laptop and was currently in the kitchen, eating a bowl of noodles he had made himself. 

He had spent the majority of the day searching the web and his notes for any information on this timeline’s Oracle. In every alternate universe, a bad omen will follow him and his friends like a punishment for jumping into a different timeline. Some omens will be obvious, but not all of them will be and it’s nice to know for certain what they’re going up against. Things are quite unpredictable, but no matter what, the Oracle will have answers.

The Oracle is a special being with cryptic answers to let him and his friends know what they’re up to and they typically show up in different forms every timeline. The Oracle could be an old woman with a sketchy apple (he nearly had a heart attack when Hyunjin ate it with no hesitation) or just a random phone call. Whatever they may be in this timeline, Chan will find it for Hyunjin since it’s the least that he could do.

Granted, this entire process would be a bit easier if he was allowed to leave his house and look in person, but the universe had other plans for Chan. While he was immune to Hyunjin’s ability, the universe liked to keep things in balance and quite literally locked him in his own home until Hyunjin came and found him. If he were to try and walk off his driveway, he would reappear right back into his house, regardless of how hard he tried to get out. Until Hyunin finds him, Chan’s stuck in his house for the time being. 

Chan’s running low on his noodle stock, so he prays to the heavens that it won’t take Hyunjin two weeks like last time to find him. “I knew I should’ve went on that grocery run with Felix before Hyunjin’s birthday.” Chan grumbles to himself, stuffing his face with another scoop of noodles. 

He hummed after chewing his noodles and pulled out his phone from his pocket. So far, he’s managed to narrow down the presence of the Oracle to a sketchy fortune teller in the back of a hair salon, some underground rapper, or a Mafia Boss’ right hand man. None of which sound very promising, but it’s where he’s currently at and it sounds like better options than any of their previous encounters with the Oracle. 

His attention turned back to the bowl of noodles when he realized he wasn’t picking anything up with his chopsticks. He had finished eating without even realizing, causing him to pout. Chan debated making another pack of noodles to fulfill his hunger, but quickly decided against it when he remembered that he couldn’t leave to buy more if he ran out. So with a heavy heart, Chan cleans the table and washes his dishes before returning to his room to search for his friends this time.

Hopefully Hyunjin makes his way to Chan soon.


	4. you all wait and see

Hyunjin jumped off the swing set and thanked the heavens silently for listening to his wishes before booking it to the bus station. His heart was pounding out of his chest knowing he was one step closer to getting answers. He arrived at the station just a couple of seconds earlier than the bus, giving him extra time to pull out cash from his back pocket and catch his breath. 

Hyunjin stepped closer to the curb as he waited for the bus to come to a stop. Once it did, the doors swung open, revealing an older man in black uniform with a matching cap. He smiled politely as Hyunjin stepped into the bus and paid for his ticket. The bus driver’s hand pulled back from the door handle, revealing a cool hook tattoo in the space between his thumb and index finger. “Heading north into the city, kid?” the bus driver asks with an amused tone. Hyunjin smiled politely and shrugged. “Something like that.”

After getting handed his ticket, Hyunjin makes his way to the back of the bus and avoids awkward eye contact with the already existing passengers. He shrugs off his backpack and hugs it as he takes his seat. The view of the park slowly began to blur with the scenery as the bus gained speed. The lonely houses and streets soon faded into trees, grassy plains, and dirt roads as Hyunjin traveled farther away from the countryside and into the city. 

He often caught himself slowly falling asleep, but snapped himself awake instantly each time. Hyunjin feared that he would oversleep and find himself somewhere undesired. He tried to keep himself awake by admiring the view outside the window or playing a mental game of counting cars. One hour turned into two and Hyunjin could feel his stomach grow hungrier by the minute. The city hadn’t come into view yet and wouldn’t be for another hour, causing Hyunjin to regret not buying any snacks before his impulsive trip. 

Eventually, the fight between sleep or hunger overpowered Hyunjin and he caved into sleep, hoping it would put his hunger on pause. He triple-checked the bus map on his phone, knowing with full certainty he could get at least 40 minutes of sleep. Hyunjin’s eyes were growing heavier by the second but he managed to put on a 20-minute alarm before welcoming the darkness. Like his previous dreams, he found himself interacting with the same boys as before.

In his dream, Hyunjin was lying on the grass with his arm over his eyes. He could hear footsteps shuffling through the grass, but he didn’t bother removing his arm until someone poked his arm a little too hard. 

_“Yo, Hyunjin,” an unfamiliar voice called, causing Hyunjin to remove his arm in annoyance. Hyunjin scoffed as his eyes adjusted to the afternoon sky. “I’m busy.”_

_“Don’t be like that.” The boy shakes his head before extending his arm. “Everyone else is waiting for you.”_

_Hyunjin turned over to face the boy and wasn’t surprised to see that his face wasn’t visible. He had light brown hair and a white sweater that looked a little big on him. He had a soft smile, despite Hyunjin’s attitude towards him. The wind blew through his hair, causing it to stick up like they were little cat ears on his head. Any feeling of annoyance disappeared and Hyunjin took his hand. The boy helped him up and threw an arm over his shoulder, laughing. The other unnamed boys were a couple of feet away from the two, talking amongst themselves. One waved their arm and gestured for Hyunjin and the boy to come over. Hyunjin smiled and looked over to the boy besides him, wanting to say something._

But Hyunjin woke up. 

Hyunjin rubbed his eyes and turned off the stupid alarm that was buzzing in his hand. He glanced out of the window and realized the sun was slowly slipping behind the buildings, welcoming the darkness. The bus began to slow down to accommodate the street traffic, giving Hyunjin time to take everything in. Pedestrians and shops filled Hyunjin’s entire view from the window seat of the bus. He watched little kids and their parents leave restaurants with happy faces, groups of friends laughing around in front of convenience stores, and tons of bright neon signs turning on before the last bit of sunlight leaves them. 

“Next stop: Yellow Wood St, Miroh City.” The automatic female voice called inside the bus. Hyunjin smiled to himself as he threw the bag onto his shoulders, preparing to leave once the bus stopped. He had made it into the city and hopefully he’ll get some answers (and some food). 

Hyunjin felt like he had entered an entirely different world the second he got off the bus. He was greeted by the delicious aroma of different kinds of food. He walked past restaurants with a watery mouth and failed to decide what he should eat for dinner. Hyunjin roamed the streets excitedly, like a child at the candy shop. His fingers would run through the fabrics of clothing outside of shops as his nose chased down the next mouth-watering scent. After a couple minutes of exploring, Hyunjin gave into his hunger and entered a noodle restaurant to satisfy his needs.

It was a nice, small restaurant. There was a tall table in the corner where an elder woman sat as she counted money from the register. The fans above him were on low, cooling down the place and a group of friends sitting in the corner. Before Hyunjin could make his next move, another elder woman materialized beside him with a smile that reached her eyes. She grabbed a menu in a box beside the door and led Hyunjin to the table besides the group of friends. Once seated, she gave him the menu and told him to call her when she was ready. Hyunjin thanked her for the menu and scanned it excitedly. 

Everything on the menu sounded more delicious than the last and as much as Hyunjin wanted to try everything, he gave in to the first thing he saw on the menu when he opened it: cold noodles with vegetables. Hyunjin raised his hand and the woman came over to take his order. Once she left, his attention drifted towards the window for some people-watching to pass the time. But it didn’t last long because he caught wind of the conversation happening besides him. 

There were four fairly handsome and older guys sitting at the table beside them, happily (and loudly) chatting away over their dinner. Typically, Hyunjin would pay no attention to them but one of them, the only blond one out of all the dark-haired boys, spoke the magic word. Hyunjin pulled out his phone, pretending to use it as he listened into the conversation. 

“Okay, after this we need to go convince Soonyoung and Minghao to not go down to the North Star. They’re not listening to Joshua and I’m tired of hearing his complaints.” The blond sighed as he put down the phone in his hand. The guy besides him, who had his cheeks full with noodles, pouted sympathetically. “They’re still on about the North Star?”

The boy sitting in front of the pouted boy scowled at his manners. “Choi Seungcheol, don’t speak while your mouth is literally stuffed.” 

The guy, presumably Seungcheol, tilted his head in surprise and opened his mouth to speak before his blond friend shushed him. “Cheol, just listen to Seungkwan and finish the food in your mouth.” 

Seungcheol’s shoulders sagged in defeat while he chewed his food and his friends chuckled at his behavior. “Don’t they realize what a bad idea that is? The place has been rumored to be the perfect place for murder…” The final friend spoke quietly before pushing his round glasses up and faced Seungkwan for some back-up. “No, you’re definitely right, Wonwoo. My mother has been telling me stories since I moved here and told me to never go to the North Star. Soonyoung is an idiot for even suggesting it and Minghao is Idiot #2 for going along with it.”

The blond guy sighed, rubbing his temples and putting down his chopsticks. “One day, we’re going to die because of Soonyoung. I just know it.”

Meanwhile, Hyunjin’s heart was racing and his eyes were as wide as bowling balls. _The North Star was real? Could this place be the answer to his own problems?_ Before Hyunjin could act on his growing desire to know more, the old lady had returned with his food. He quickly pulled himself together and thanked the woman for the food. As she left, Hyunjin glanced over to the table besides him. The boy with glasses was now providing a plan on how to convince their friend, Soonyoung, to change his mind with Seungcheol throwing in his 2 cents on the plan. 

Hyunjin looked backed at his table and his eyes fell onto the hot sauce bottle. A lightbulb beamed above his head as he took the bottle and hid it behind the napkin dispenser. Once it was hidden, he stood up and walked over to the guys.

“Hi,” Hyunjin greeted nervously as all four of their attention cut to him. “I was wondering if I could borrow your hot sauce bottle? My table doesn’t have one.”

“Of course!” Seungkwan answers enthusiastically, reaching over to the boy with glasses’ side to get the hot sauce. He handed the bottle to Hyunjin, who bowed politely as he said his word of thanks. Before he left, Seungcheol spoke once more. “What if we just paid them to not go to the North Star?”

 _“Now’s your chance to ask, Hyunjin.”_ He thought to himself. Hyunjin stopped himself from turning back and gave them a shy smile. “Sorry for eavesdropping but, what is this North Star you keep talking about?”

The blond boy looked at him in surprise. “You don’t know what the North Star is?”

Hyunjin laughed in slight embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “No? I’m kind of new here.”

The blond smiled at him sympathetically before explaining to Hyunjin. “The North Star is the nickname of a neighborhood here in Miroh City. It used to be a place where all the rich people lived. Any celebrity you knew or saw on TV would live there and it was super popular for tourists to come visit up until a couple of years ago. Everyone that lived in the North Star area simply vanished into thin air one day and investigators couldn’t find them anywhere. Rumors say it was a murder site and the cops tried to cover it up or that the Specialties took over the place.”

“Specialties?” Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. The boy with glasses nodded before he took the reins to explain to Hyunjin. “Specialties are the people who have some kind of special power. Miroh City is full of them, but I heard that the AMS is rounding them up to protect them against hate crimes or something.” 

Hyunjin nodded in understanding. “Do you know where the North Star is?”

Seungcheol scoffed. “Who doesn’t?” The blond elbowed him in the side. “He’s new, Cheol.”

The boy cleared his throat, realizing his mistake. “Sorry, it’s just the northern hills. You’ll find it because it’s practically abandoned and locked down. No one wanted to move in after hearing about the “disappearing act”. But why do you want to know where it is? You wanna go see it?”

Hyunjin shook his head in defense quickly. “Just wanted to know where to avoid, that’s all. Thank you again.”

The boy shrugged with a friendly smile. “No problem.” 

Once Hyunjin sat back in his seat, his brain was spinning with new information. This “North Star” was an actual place, not something that was cryptically written on his arm. As he devoured his delightful dinner, he thought about the disappearing celebrities. _Were they murdered like the four guys presumed? Or was it a cover-up for something more?_ Hyunjin’s gut churned and it wasn’t because he was filling it up with food.

He had a weird feeling that he was going to find out soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah seventeen makes an appearance in this because i can't help myself, being a staycarat is my only personality trait i think


	5. watch out, i should open my eyes

Dinner _should’ve_ been peaceful.

Hyunjin would finish his dinner and go for a walk to clear his mind (and walk off the food) before deciding what he should do next. Maybe he’d go into a convenience store and stock up on snacks to prevent another long trip without any food. Then, he’ll call a taxi to visit the North Star neighborhood. 

In some ways, that did happen. It just didn’t happen in the way Hyunjin had planned. 

Hyunjin was almost finished with his food and decided to take a quick break to pay for his dinner beforehand. He reached into his bag and pulled out a hundred, then walked over to enjoy a nice chat with the elder lady at the register. When he got back, he noticed that there were a small group of tall men in long black coats across the street from the restaurant. Hyunjin eyed them strangely as he took his seat. Something about this didn’t sit right with him, but he blamed it on eating a lot. Eventually they disappeared as they turned the corner.

Ignoring them, he finished up his dinner. Just as he was taking the last gulps of his water, he noticed that they were back again. The growing suspicion in his gut was now sending wild alarms to his head and before he knew it, Hyunjin was rushing out of the restaurant to get as far away as he could. 

He sped-walk down the street in the opposite direction of the strange group of men, ducking behind the hangers of clothes or mannequins outside of different shops. Hyunjin occasionally looked over his shoulder until he was certain he couldn’t see them anymore. Quite startled from their presence, Hyunjin pulled out his phone and ordered an Uber to meet him a block away from the place. It gave him enough time to visit a convenience store before catching a ride. 

Hyunjin was in the middle of deciding between a bar of chocolate or a bag of chips when a weird gut feeling came back. Trusting his gut, he grabbed both and two cup noodles to quickly pay. Once he paid, he shoved the food into his stuffed backpack and left the store. He looked over to the left and there the strange group of men were. They were all huddled over an electronic pad, like they were trying to figure out where to go next. Hyunjin didn’t think much about it until they all looked up and directly at Hyunjin. Panic filled Hyunjin’s veins and before he knew it, he was running to find his Uber.

One of the men shouted to his partner and they split into two groups. Hyunjin looked over his shoulder to see that they were slowly gaining speed. Murmuring curses under his breath, he tried to pick his phone out from his pocket. His Uber was close to him, but it felt like it was miles away with all these guys chasing after him. He cursed once more after hopping over boxes with his heavy backpack weighing him down. Cutting through the alley, he prayed with every bit of his soul that the other group wasn’t going to corner him on the other side. 

Hyunjin knocked over some trash bags and cans in case they were going to turn the corner behind him and as luck would have it, there was no one waiting for him on the other side except his Uber driver. He opened the door, panting from the sudden exercise. “Who are you here for?” He asked the driver frantically. 

The man looked at his phone that was sitting on top of the small air vent. “Hyunjin?”

Hyunjin sighed in relief and through himself into the car, ducking to avoid the window. “Please just drive the hell out of here as fast as you can.” 

The driver complied with Hyunjin’s wishes and stepped on the accelerator. Hyunjin threw on the seatbelt and peeked up to look out the window. The men managed to regroup right where Hyunjin had jumped into the car and they looked pissed that he got away. He let out a sigh of relief before his mind filled with more questions. _Why the hell were they after him?_

Eventually, the man drove Hyunjin to the heart of the city and he found himself entranced by the beautiful tall buildings glittering under the night sky. He passed by a beautiful plaza that was bustling with life, color, and music. If Hyunjin wasn’t on a mission, he would’ve made the man stop right there. Instead he asked the driver to drop him off in front of the North Star neighborhood.

“Sir, are you sure? You do know where that is, right?” The man looked into the rearview mirror with worry. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened when Hyunjin nodded his head. “Bad things happen there, I can take you somewhere else for a discount.”

“No, I need to go to the North Star.” Hyunjin reassured the man and before the driver could try to convince his mind, Hyunjin lied. “I have an investigating job there. I know what I’m getting into.”

He watched the man gulp nervously before nodding. “Okay, I will take you there.”

It was worse than Chan could ever imagine.

No matter what timeline it may be, Chan would be safe in his home. No one was going to come by his place and try to blow it up. He would remain invisible to the outside world until Hyunjin arrived and that was the law of the universe. He would have running water and electricity, regardless of whether or not he had paid his bills (not that he had any to pay to begin with). If Chan ran out of food, that would be on him, but he would still be protected at home.

Until today.

When Chan woke up that afternoon, he found out that his water line had been stopped for an unknown reason. He couldn’t use any of the sinks to brush his teeth and resorted to using bottled water. It was a lengthier process, but he got it over with and made himself some noodles for lunch. Everything was going great until 6PM on the dot when every electronic item in his house shut off completely. 

Chan was literally in the middle of searching for a Yang Jeongin on his laptop when his lights flicked off and his internet dropped, rendering his laptop useless. He went into the living room to fix the internet and tried to turn on the lights, but none of them worked. Panicked started to settle in which caused Chan to break out his emergency kit with flashlights. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before and he was afraid to think about why this may be happening.

To prevent himself from spiraling, Chan went out to the backyard with some tools to see if he could fix the electrical box. As if things weren’t already creepy enough, Chan found that his electrical box was in perfect condition and it read that electricity was still running through the house. 

“Well, that’s just fun.” Chan mumbled to himself sarcastic, picking up the bag of tools to head back in the house. He decided he would just go read a book to pass the time until dinner. But to make matters worse, dinner was not fun. 

It was 10PM and Bang Chan was sitting outside in his backyard, starting up a small fire so he could heat up some water for his dinner. He had just finished reading about some boys with special abilities who were trying to stop a foreboding future and decided it was time to make dinner. He felt a strange weight on his chest at some point, but figured it was because he was inhaling too much smoke from the fire. He moved away with his dinner and let the fire burn, allowing the fire to be his source of light. Despite him moving farther away from the fire, Chan found it harder to breathe.

“Am I dying?” He wondered out-loud. He placed the bowl of noodles besides him and stood up from the log. He walked back into the house, ignoring the fact that he left the sliding door open and proceeded to unlock the front door with caution.

Chan’s eyes scanned the empty streets in front of him. There were no lights from any of the houses or the streetlamps that would typically fill the streets. There were cars parked on driveways and in the streets, but Chan knew there was a thick layer of dust on them from the lack of use. He stepped out of his home and stood on the front steps, hands in his pockets. The North Star neighborhood was empty, as it had always been and Chan was starting to fear that his home was going to be as empty and useless as the rest of the houses on this block. 

Shivers ran through Chan’s spin and the weight on his chest felt heavier. He was about the turn back into the house when his head started to spin. He grew increasingly nauseous and dark spots were slowly dancing in his vision. _Was it just him or was the air getting thinner?_ He felt his body step forward and into his lawn. The air was colder against his skin and his vision was starting to blur. He felt his knees grow weak under his weight, causing him to fall into the grass. He was barely propping himself up with his arms when he swore he saw a flash of light from the street. _Was that the light that leads me to the afterlife? Is this it for me?_

Chan couldn’t hold himself up any longer and let himself fall. The coolness of the grass tickled his cheeks and his breathing slowed down. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and just when he was about to give into the darkness, he felt something on his shoulder. 

“Hey!” A frantic, worried voice filled the silence. Alarms went off in Chan’s head but he couldn’t force himself to stay awake. “A-are you okay?”

“Hyunjin?” Chan mumbled, feeling himself being turned onto his back. His vision cleared for a second, allowing him to see a familiar face with long blond hair. “You’re finally here…” 

Without another warning, Chan’s vision turned black and before he lost hold of his consciousness, he felt the boy’s warm hands on his cold cheeks. It felt warmer than anything he could have possibly remembered and it was such a shame he would never feel it again. With the last bit of energy he had left, he smiled as a faded voice filled the last bits of his mind. 

_“Hyung!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [evil laughs] see you in a couple of days :D


	6. hey, you wanna come in?

Chan woke up in the comforts of his own bed. The curtains were wide open, allowing the warming sunlight to come in. He blinked in confusion as flashes of memories slowly made their way back to him. He remembered the broken water system and electricity lines, then blacking out in the front yard. He had to be dead, right? 

He pushed himself up and looked around his room. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Chan threw the covers off and got out of bed, finding out he was still wearing the same pair of clothes yesterday. He groaned as a sharp pain jabbed his head. Great, he’s in the afterlife with a pounding headache, but hopefully he’ll find some deity that can help him. Sighing, he made his way to his door.

As he opened the door, he was greeted by a taller blond boy. Chan’s eyes widened at how close they were to each other and stepped back to give the boy space. The boy raised his eyebrow in surprise. “Oh, you’re awake. I was just going to wake you up for some breakfast. I guess you can follow me…”

Before the boy could turn away, Chan quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist gently, turning the boy to face him again. “Hyunjin?”

The boy flinched at his movement, but he didn’t pull away. He nodded slowly, curious as to what the other was doing. Chan reached up to touch the end of his long bangs, finding this entire situation unbelievable. The feeling of Hyunjin’s hair and wrist in his hand was more than enough evidence to prove to Chan that he wasn’t dead. “Your hair is longer.”

“So,” Hyunjin’s other hand reached up and gently stopped Chan from strangely touching his hair. “I assume we know each other then.”

Chan’s eyes raised in bewilderment, completely forgetting that Hyunjin lost his memories unlike Chan. “Yeah, we do. We go a long way back.” He smiles to himself, remembering all their past adventures together. As he smiled, Hyunjin’s eyes widened as if he realized something, but it instantly changed into a strange look. He turned away without a word, but Chan caught him and stopped him once more. 

“You remember me, don’t you?” Chan asked softly as Hyunjin avoided his gaze. He stared at the floor intently, like he was racking his brain for some sort of explanation. After a moment of Hyunjin not answering, Chan sighed and let go of Hyunjin’s wrist. Chan figured it was still too early for Hyunjin’s memories to come, but was proven wrong when Hyunjin met his eyes once again.   
“Y-you… you’re the one that died in front of me… aren’t you?” His voice trembled as his eyes started to tear up. Chan’s heart broke into a million pieces. So, Hyunjin did remember what had happened in their last timeline. He quickly reassured him, resting his hand on Hyunjin’s arm. “No, no. I’m still here. I’m still alive.”

“B-but I watched you. Chan, I-I was the one who killed… you.” Hyunjin finished his sentence in complete devastation. He looked away from Chan as a wave of guilt washes over the poor boy. Chan frowned, “No you didn’t. You didn’t kill me. Hyunjin, listen to me.” He grabbed the boy’s face with both his hands and forced Hyunjin to look at him in the eye. His thumb gently stroking his cheek to calm him down.

“Hwang Hyunjin, you are the reason I am still here and not the reason I nearly died. Do you understand that?”

Hyunjin’s bottom lip trembled as a tear rolled down his cheek. “But he said—” 

“Who said that?”

A wave of confusion fell over the guilty boy. “I can’t remember,” he answered softly. Chan sighed as he nodded and let go of the boy. “That’s okay, it seems like you remembered me and my name without me having to remind you.”

The boy looked down at his socks before muttering a soft apology. Chan chuckled, reaching up and rubbing the back of Hyunjin’s neck reassuringly. “Don’t be, it happens. We’ve been through worse, trust me. Now, let’s go eat breakfast.”

Once the duo was settled at the dining table with breakfast that wasn’t Chan’s typical noodles, Chan learned that everything in his house was in perfect condition. It was as if yesterday didn’t exist. His water was working, the microwave was on, and Chan was breathing properly. Hell, even his fridge and cabinets were strangely filled with food and Hyunjin claimed that he didn’t buy anything besides some cup noodles and snacks. Everything was normal with the minor exception of Hyunjin making sure Chan eats more than usual.

Once Chan sorted that out and came to the conclusion that Hyunjin’s presence was the one to fix everything, the two enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Hyunjin ended up telling Chan about him waking up with no memories, the decision to come here, and ending with his tale about how he was strangely chased. Chan, in turn, promised he would explain to Hyunjin everything he desired, which he kept.

“So your memories were lost because you jumped timelines,” Chan explained after snarfing down his eggs. “It’s your specialty, like a superpower.”

“I… I can jump timelines?” Hyunjin tilted his head in confusion. Chan nodded as he took a gulp of water before explaining further. “You have the ability to jump to the past or future and even alternate timelines, but at a cost of course. Every time you jump, you and the rest of our friends will lose their own memories and will be scattered across the world.”

“But you seem to have all your memories.” Hyunjin pointed out as he took a bit of his eggs. Chan nodded in agreement, “You have a good point. I still have _all_ my memories because it’s kind of my specialty. I’m not affected by _any_ superpower, so I can still keep my memories and always reappear in this house when you jump. The only side effect to my ability is that I can’t leave this house until you come, which thank god you did yesterday. I have a bad feeling things would end a little differently if you arrived a day later.”

Hyunjin pouted, feeling guilty again. “So you’re stuck here until I come? What happens if I take forever to find you? And why is it always you that I have to find?” 

“It’s not as bad as you think. I always have water, electricity, and wifi, regardless of the time period we’re in. I usually have food and entertainment to last me awhile. Plus, the longest it has taken you to find me was 2 weeks, which you promise to never do again. Now in regards to why is it always me, it just happens to be the law of the universe I guess. I don’t recall a time you’ve gone on an adventure without finding me first and you never find anyone else before me so…” Chan shrugged as he finished his last bits of his breakfast. 

“An adventure? We go on an adventure?” Hyunjin too, finished his breakfast and was now listening to Chan intently, propping his chin up with his hand. Chan chuckles nervously, afraid that Hyunjin might take the message wrong. “Well, with every great power comes great responsibility.Your ability is really powerful and the more powerful it is, the more side effects there is to it. Aside from the memory loss and the displacement, you are also “destined” to defeat the Bad Omen of the timeline.”

Hyunjin scratches his head. “Bad Omen?” 

“Yeah, every timeline we’ve been in has one. Sometimes, they’re obvious like aliens, but it’s not like that all the time. They can be something that you wouldn’t think twice about like someone working on a project that accidentally destroys the whole world. Just to be sure, we usually check in with the Oracle.” Chan explains. He watches Hyunjin nod slowly in understanding. “So how do we find the Oracle in this timeline? Do we wait for a hint to come in a dream?”  
Chan chuckles, shaking his head. “You’re in luck because I think I know where we can find the Oracle. We can leave after this, if you’re down for that.”

“Okay. That sounds fun.” Hyunjin answers with a small smile. Chan returns his smile as he gets up to take both of their dishes. Before he has the chance to turn away, Hyunjin reaches out and tugs on his arm. “Do you think we can find our friends too?”

“Of course we will, Hyunjin.”

“This feels so nice.” Chan sighs pleasantly as the two of them cross the street. Hyunjin smiled at Chan’s relaxed features and agreed silently. It had been a couple of hours since they made plans to leave the place because Chan insisted that they both freshen up before leaving. He had lent Hyunjin a gray jacket with odd paint stains, claiming it was the aesthetic for the place they were heading. Hyunjin reluctantly agreed to wear it after Chan begged profusely, and paired it with black jeans and clipped his hair back. To match Hyunjin’s odd jacket, Chan wore a jacket that made him look like he was in a school’s marching band over a white shirt and some random jeans he pulled from his laundry basket, which he pulled off. Now the two of them were heading to find the Oracle at some disclosed location that Chan wouldn’t name.

_“Will you please let me know where we’re going? What if you lead me to the middle of nowhere and we get kidnapped by the government?” Hyunjin begged, pouting as he laid sprawled out on Chan’s bed. He heard Chan’s laughter from the bathroom and he combed his hair. “If I told you where we are going, it’ll ruin all the fun. I also promise I’m not going to lead you into the middle of nowhere.”_

But that was an hour ago and the suspense was nearly killing Hyunjin. They had been walking into the city for a while as Chan pointed out old places that their friend group used to hang out at. Turns out, Hyunjin jumped into a timeline and place that used to be their old home. He had learned that Chan was born and raised in Miroh City, living peacefully with his parents and siblings in the North Star neighborhood. That was until the mysterious disappearance of everyone in the entire neighborhood except him. Because he was the lone survivor of the North Star disappearance, scientists from the District came by and took him in. 

They had been adventuring through Miroh City for a while and while Hyunjin should be annoyed by how long it was taking them to go to the mysterious location of the Oracle, he found the entire trip quite insightful. Chan spent the entire time telling Hyunjin about their past. He learned about how he met Chan and the rest of their friends at the District, a place that was home to kids with special abilities, and how they eventually learned that the scientists there were planning evil things. He told him about how they escaped and lived homeless for a while, trying to find Miroh City because Chan was the only person who remembered where they came from. Eventually, they had given up and somewhere in between, Hyunjin jumped for the very first time and led their group into a new adventure. 

Listening to Chan’s recounts of their adventures warmed Hyunjin’s heart. It was a shame Hyunjin couldn’t remember anything because he desperately wanted to laugh alongside Chan’s inside jokes instead of vaguely nodding. Noticing that Hyunjin’s memory loss was still apparent, Chan took extra time to patiently explain every joke like he’s done this a million times before. Soon, they found themselves across a 3-story building.

Hyunjin’s eyes widened in shock as Chan wrapped up his story about how they lived in a dystopia that was filled with vampires. The building was huge and looked an awful lot like an old-fashioned movie theater. It had a big display board in the front with flashing lights that read, “Back Door Club.” The big doors were closed and the small window had a “Closed” sign taped upon in. Hyunjin turned over at Chan and gave him a confused look. “ _This_ is where the Oracle is?”

Chan shrugged. “Sort of.” He gave Hyunjin a wink before crossing the street, not waiting for the streetlight to turn green for them. Hyunjin scoffed in bewilderment, eyeing the building. Something about the tinted black windows and the bright red brick wall was unsettling to him, but he pushed that thought away and ran after Chan. Instead of heading straight for the front door, he led Hyunjin to the walkway between the Back Door Club and whatever building was next to it. 

Hyunjin was expecting to see bags of trash in the walkway and dirty walls but instead, all he saw was a polished and clean walkway lined with flowers on both sides. The bright red brick wall was covered in beautiful graffiti art and it nearly covered every corner. Hyunjin’s eyes widened in surprise as his fingers traced a pixie fairy that was blown up in size. He could feel Chan looking at him in amusement in the corner of his eye, so he withdrew his hand and quickly caught up to him.

“Where are we even going?” Hyunjin huffed once he finally fell in step with Chan. Chan scoffed, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Hyunjin, the place is called “Back Door”. Did you really think the entrance is in the front?”

Hyunjin opened his mouth to protest, but was rendered speechless when they turned a corner again. He was facing a beautiful opening with a couple of cafe chairs and tables. Beautiful plants lined the walls surrounding the place. He felt like he was looking at a cafe instead of the back area of some random club. Hyunjin wanted to turn and ask Chan how the hell he found this place, but instead he was greeted by two bouncers looking at him as if he was a rat infesting the place. 

“Hello.” Hyunjin said calmly, surprising himself because he was anything but. Chan was standing a step behind him and said nothing, which freaked Hyunjin out a bit. Chan was supposed to be leading him somewhere and now Hyunjin was face-to-face with two guys that looked like they were going to step on Hyunjin. He breathed in shakily, hoping the two guys wouldn’t notice his nerves and prayed that he had a calm face.

Hyunjin looked directly into their eyes, one by one, hoping he would intimidate them or something. The bouncers glanced over at Chan, then at each other before the one on the left spoke. “Welcome to the Back Door.”

They stepped apart, revealing a red door. The one on the right reached over and twisted the door handle, guiding them inside. Hyunjin nodded at the men before stepping in, Chan in tow. They stood in the dark for a second as the last bit of outside light disappeared behind them. At first, Hyunjin thought the faint thumping noise was his heartbeat, but he realized it was the music in front of them. At least he knew he didn’t just trap Chan and him in a dark box. As if sensing his nerves, Chan’s hand searched for his’ in the dark. The warmth and reassurance from Chan calmed Hyunjin and together, they stepped towards the music. 

A couple feet in, Chan reached out in front of them and pulled on something. Turns out, it was just a black curtain and it revealed a dimly lit ballroom. The low light illuminated Chan’s face, which broke into a cheeky smile when he realized they were finally inside. “Nice place, huh?”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance as Chan let go of his hand and walked past him to the bar in the back. Hyunjin followed in suit, taking in the sight in front of him. There were a bunch of round tables with people enjoying a nice meal and a show. They were all facing the stage, when a single boy with a big pair of white wings was dancing to a beautiful song. His ribbons tied to his wrist fluttered through the sky as he spins in the air. Hyunjin stared in awe as he settled besides Chan at the bar table, eyes glued on the way the boy moved elegantly to the song. There was something about the boy, but Hyunjin couldn’t put his finger on it. Instead, he pulled himself away from the stage to look at Chan.

“I was going to ask why there were so many people at a club in the afternoon, but I saw why now.” Hyunjin laughed to himself, gesturing towards the stage with his chin. Chan briefly glanced at the stage with a smile before turning back to the bartender. “Two club sodas please.”

“How did you even find this place?” Hyunjin asked with amusement. Instead of getting an answer, Chan stood in silent shock as his eyes were glued onto the stage. Hyunjin eyed him weirdly, watching Chan gulp nervously. He threw his hand in front of his face, gaining his attention. Finally, Chan snapped towards Hyunjin’s direction. “Hm?”

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin asked. Chan’s eyes drifted between the stage and then Hyunjin before he shook his head. “Nothing, what did you ask before that?”

Hyunjin squinted at him in suspicion but dropped it when he met Chan’s eyes. “I asked how did you find this place?”

Chan’s smile returned and he shrugged casually. “I know someone.”

“You? I thought your life restarts every time I jump.” Hyunjin tilted his head. He was about to get his answer, but was stopped by the bartender’s presence. “Two club soda for the gentlemen.” said the bartender as he placed the drinks on coasters in front of the two. Hyunjin reached over to grab the drink. “Thank you…” he paused, his eyes searching for his name tag. “Joshua.”

“Of course,” Joshua nodded politely before leaving them to tend the bar. He took a sip of his drink before encouraging Chan to continue. “That’s technically not true. Sometimes I get a fresh start, but the majority of the time I’m usually placed in the timeline as if I had always been here. This is one of the cases. I checked my phone before we left and I had a ton of messages from people I don’t personally know. I went through a bit, then found someone who goes here and knows about the Oracle. It matched up my previous findings, so here we are to talk to them.” 

“Really? Who?” Hyunjin asked as he raised his eyebrow. Chan didn’t answer and was looking past Hyunjin instead. Without a warning, Chan starts walking past Hyunjin. “Come with me and don’t say anything.”

The two of them made their way to a booth. There was a really big man wearing the meanest snarl and sunglasses, even though they were already in a poorly lit place. Outside the booth stood two bodyguards in dark masks and dark clothing from head to toe. Hyunjin was intimidated by the bodyguards until he was standing a foot away from them, realizing he was inches taller. He was about to let his guard down until the one on Hyunjin’s side adjusted their stance and crossed their arms, showing off their really buff arms. Hyunjin gulped nervously. 

The one on the left reached out his arm and stopped Chan from stepping any closer to the table. The bodyguard looked over his shoulder, silently asking the man inside what they should do. The man simply nodded and the bodyguard dropped his arm, allowing Chan and Hyunjin to take a seat in the booth. 

Sitting in front of the mysterious man was even scarier than standing outside the booth. Inside, he had a full view of all his tattoos on his very muscular arms. He could practically see the definition of his chest through his dark shirt and it made him extremely worried that the man would just flick the two of them across the country if Chan said something wrong. “Alright, what do you want?” The man practically _growled_ at them once they sat down. 

Chan suddenly started laughing, which caused Hyunjin to stare at him as if he had grown 3 heads. Once Chan calmed down and wiped away fake tears from his eyes, he gave the man a confident smirk. “I want to see Captain Hook.”

“I _am_ Captain Hook.” The man cracked his knuckles, trying to intimidate them (it was definitely working on Hyunjin, Chan on the other hand…)

Chan laughed again, shaking his head. He threw his arm on the table and rested his chin on his hand. “You’re funny, I like you.”

“I don’t.” The man snapped and Hyunjin tugged on the end of Chan’s jacket nervously. Chan paid no attention to him and continued to smirk at the man in front of them. At this point, Hyunjin had accepted his fate and knew they weren’t going to make it out alive.

After a minute of high tension between Chan smiling like an idiot and the man who was probably plotting their murder, a woman joined their table. She was a short woman wearing the prettiest pink silk dress and had curly short blonde hair that reached her chin. She gave them all a smile as she swirled her drink in her hand. With the other hand, she placed it on the man’s shoulder. “Is there a problem here?” she asked in a sickly sweet voice, batting her eyes innocently. Hyunjin’s guts flip, suggesting that she was anything but. 

“Hey Captain Hook,” Chan raised his eyebrow in amusement. “Or should I say, Chaeyoung?”

The woman’s demeanor instantly changed from sickly sweet to casually dangerous. She smiled at him knowingly, snapping her fingers and the man stood up from his seat and left the booth. She took his spot and placed her drink on the table, stretching her arm across the head of the booth’s seat. She tilted her head back, studying the two. “Hm…”

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin said for the first time since he sat down at the booth. He felt like he was being too exposed with the way Chaeyoung was looking at him.

“You know, I had a vision that you two would come see me one day and I’m not surprised you manage to find my secret identity. But, the vision was like 5 years ago and you had different color hair in it.” She said at last, leaning forward to hold her wine glass again. With the same hand, she pointed at Hyunjin. “You had pink hair. It was a nice look on you.” Then she pointed towards Chan. “And you. You had like… a red top part. Pretty cool if you asked me.”

Chan raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Now, I know who you are, but I didn’t expect you to know me.” Chaeyoung smiled and this time it was much softer and genuine. “Bang Chan, I am a seer. It’s my job to know people and I especially don’t forget someone who left me with the most prominent vision in my entire life.”

Chan furrowed his eyebrow in confusion. “No, I mean you genuinely _can’t_ have known me from a vision. You sure I was the one you saw?”

Chaeyoung nodded slowly, like that was the strangest question one could ask a seer. And it would be unless you considered how Bang Chan’s ability couldn’t allow himself to be affected by anyone’s power; including visions of the future. 

“So you’re telling me that I wasn’t supposed to see you in my vision?” Chaeyoung frowned after Hyunjin explained to her the situation. Chan sat there, studying table cloth with worry written across his face. “I guess not.” Hyunjin said, looking at Chan in worry. _If Chan is appearing in people’s visions, does that mean something goes wrong in this timeline?_

“Chaeyoung, what else did you see?” Chan finally asked, snapping out of his thoughts. Chaeyoung blinked before she took a swig of her drink. Once she finished, she put the glass down, leaned back and interlaced her fingers on the table. “You came to me with Hyunjin and asked me about my dark secret, but it came with a price. One minute you’re here and the next, I remember yelling. That’s it and it scared me for years.”

“Tell me about the Oracle.” 

Chaeyoung pursed her lips together. “I can’t do that. Whatever happens afterwards scared the hell out of me for years.” 

“Chaeyoung, please. I need to know.” Chan pleads and Chaeyoung furrows her brows, debating. “Why do you need to know so badly? It’s a dangerous weapon that _no one_ should be using.” 

“This world can be in grave danger if we don’t know what we’re up against. The Oracle is our best chance at fighting.” Chan reasons with her, desperation fills his eyes. Hyunjin bites his lip, worried that she might not help them.

“This world is in danger?” She asks, eyes widening. Chan nods and she glances over at the bodyguard standing near Chan briefly. She scrunches her eyebrows together in contemplation before sighing altogether. “If I tell you, this place will be in grave danger. Something is going to attack us and you have to promise to help us before anything.”

Chaeyoung stares Chan down as he agrees to her terms. Hyunjin watches the interaction between Chaeyoung and Chan as a weird feeling grows in his guts. It reminded him of the feeling he got when he was at the convenience store yesterday and that didn’t bode well with him. 

“When I was younger, I wanted to give up my abilities. I hated being able to see the future when it was filled with so much pain and sorrow. This ability nearly ruined my life because I spent every second paranoid that I was going to cause the one thing I was trying to stop, so I seeked out a scientist to help me get rid of it.” Chaeyoung sighed as the memory came flooding back into her mind. She played with her fingers for a bit before continuing. “She told me everything was going to be okay, that I would live a normal life afterwards. Instead, she manipulated me into helping her create a machine that could literally write the future. My visions, which could be changed by the littlest actions, were now met with a machine that made the future concrete. Once the machine prints out a ticket for the future, there is nothing you can do.”

“Where’s this machine now?” Chan asked, completely entranced by her story. Hyunjin should’ve been too but his stomach was burning hotter by the second and it was getting uncomfortable. His eyes darted from Chaeyoung to the front door, which was blocked by stacks of extra chairs. 

“The Oracle lives in a specific Walmart, protected by enchantments to prevent anyone from ever using it again.” Chaeyoung explained. Chan scoffed before speaking, “You hid the most dangerous weapon in the world and possibly in the planet, in a Walmart?” 

Chaeyoung flushed red with embarrassment. “Well, no one has been able to find and use it for almost 10 years now, so I’d say it’s a goddamn good hiding spot.”

“Okay fair. Now, how does one get to use this machine?” Chan asks and before he gets his answer, a big boom is heard. 

Hyunjin jumps in his seat, reaching over to Chaeyoung to make sure she’s okay. She’s equally as startled, her eyes darted all over the place. She closes her eyes for a second before turning and staring Hyunjin dead in the eye. “They’re here,”

Hyunjin didn’t even have to ask who because the burning gut feeling was all he needed to know. He turned back to Chan and pushed him out of the seat. Another boom filled the room, shaking the building. The audience, who was previously watching a dancer perform, was now running around screaming and finding places to hide. “Hyunjin, what’s going on?”

Hyunjin picked Chan up from the ground, following Chaeyoung who ran down to the bar and picked up a long knife from behind the counter. Hyunjin’s eyes widened as she unsheathed the knife, revealing a weapon glowing a light blue. Before Hyunjin had the chance to ask her why it glows, one the the bodyguards pushed Chan and Hyunjin down behind the counter. 

“Do you guys know how to fight?” The bodyguard asks, his question muffled behind the black mask he wore. Chan nods without even thinking and the bodyguard opens a cabinet to pull out two batons. “You guys look like you’re not ready to kill just yet so take these.”

Another blast shakes the building and more screaming is heard as Hyunjin’s shaking hands clasp around the cool material. It’s light and feels perfect in his hand, as if it was made just for him. It was shorter than his arm length and had a button on the handle. Curious, Hyunjin presses down on it and it lights up the same color as Chaeyoung’s long knife. Hyunjin looks at the bodyguard in shock before he takes the second to explain to him. “If the people bombing the place have special abilities, it’ll stun their powers. If they don’t, it acts like a taser. Assuming you have powers, _do not get stun by the glowing weapons._ ”

Chan and Hyunjin nodded in understanding and the bodyguard left their spot to help the bartender off the floor. Hyunjin turns to look Chan in the eyes, fear clouding both of their eyes. Chan tries to smile reassuringly, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “I got your back, don’t worry.”

Hyunjin nods slowly, pushing himself off onto his feet. “Let’s get these guys in their stupid suits out of here.”

When the two of them emerged from behind the counter, they came face-to-face with a whole bar fight scene. People were being thrown over tables and chairs went flying through the air. The dancer from before was floating high above their heads, kicking the chairs directly towards the bad men. His wings were now gone, but his white stage outfit and fluttering ribbons still made him look like a guardian angel. Chan ran from behind him and swung his glowing baton down at a suit guy who had a woman pinned down on the floor. The guy freezes and falls onto his side, freeing the woman. Hyunjin follows him, reaching out to help her up and she runs towards the hallways besides the bar. 

Another wave of blasts hit the club and a dust cloud fills the ballroom from the front door. Hyunjin instinctively reaches out for Chan with his free hand and finds his. He coughs into his other arm as Chan drags him towards the center where the glowing blue light multiples. The dust cloud slowly clears, revealing Chaeyoung taking down three guys at once. Despite wearing a fancy cocktail dress and heels, Chaeyoung swung her sword with such grace and ease. Hyunjin was so hypnotized in awe from watching that he let his guard down for a second, almost getting stabbed by a guy in a suit. 

Hyunjin lets go of Chan’s hand to lift his baton and meet the guy’s sword. He pushes his weight onto him, trying to get him to trip on the chair behind him. The guy indeed falls over and Hyunjin hits him in the leg with his baton, rendering him unconscious. Behind him, Chan throws a guy over his back and slams his baton against another man. Hyunjin raises his eyebrow and runs over to help the innocent man who was stuck under the weight of the table. “You know how to fight?” Hyunjin shouts over the yelling and screaming. 

Chan’s laughter is heard under all the noise as he roundhouse kicks another suit guy down. “You forget that we’ve done this before.”

Hyunjin nods in agreement, he _did_ forget that. Hyunjin throws the man’s arm over his shoulder and helps him over to backstage, swinging his baton violently in front of him. The innocent man coughs out a thanks and he limps through the door to backstage. Hyunjin stands in front of the door for a bit, defending it from guys in suits to give him time to escape. The numbers of bad men were lessening by the minute but Hyunjin was worried more might come soon. He met up with Chan who was back-to-back with Chaeyoung, working together to defend against a circle of them. Hyunjin joined, knocking them out from behind with his newly attained weapon, pride filling his chest as he managed to get a good number of them. 

“Their numbers are low now,” Chaeyoung says over her shoulder when she sees Hyunjin. The dancer falls to the group gracefully, doing a floor sweep to knock a guy over and joining them. “Anyone who can’t or didn’t want to fight has escaped already, but it won’t be long before they send in reinforcements for us. We need to leave now.”

“Not to be rude or anything,” Hyunjin shouts, struggling with a guy who had him in a body-lock. “But how the hell do you suppose we do that?”

Chaeyoung rushes over, elbowing the bad guy in the back. He let Hyunjin go accidentally because of the pain, giving him an opening to swing his baton at his guts. He does exactly that and the man falls to the ground, taking Hyunjin’s baton with him. Chaeyoung takes this opportunity to run, tucking the sword back into its sheath on her waist and grabbing onto Hyunjin’s arm. She pulls him along and then grabs the back of Chan’s shirt as well. “Changbin! Get them!”

Chan’s head whipped around so fast, Hyunjin feared he could’ve accidentally snapped his own neck. “Did you say _Changbin_?”

Chaeyoung didn’t answer and continued dragging them back to the bar with bad men in tow. Out of nowhere, more bodyguards materialized right behind them to fight off the bad men. One of them joined Chaeyoung and grabbed onto Hyunjin. They were a couple of feet away from the bar when four more men appeared in front of them, blocking their way. Chaeyoung curses, letting go of Chan’s shirt and pulling out her sword. She raises it high, the glowing blue light growing stronger and stronger. It blinds their opponent for a brief second, allowing the dancer to float above their heads.

The dancer drops down in front of them and it was the first time that Hyunjin realized that he was wearing a masquerade mask. The boy smiles, extending his arm. “May I?” 

Hyunjin has no idea what the hell he’s asking permission for, but he nods anyway. The boy steps forward and wraps his arms around Hyunjin’s waist. “Hold tight,” he says, lifting them both into the air. Hyunjin frantically wraps his arounds around the short boy’s neck, startled by the change of height and he takes them to the third floor’s balcony. He landed the two gently on the ground and let go of Hyunjin. “Wait here for your friend.” 

Hyunjin doesn’t get to protest the mysterious dancer already flinging himself over the balcony. Hyunjin scrambled over to watch the show unravel. Chaeyoung was still swinging her long knife, but her moves were much slower and she looked more tired. The bodyguard, which Hyunjin presumes is Changbin, was on Chaeyoung’s 6 and kicking butts (literally). Chan was in the middle of close combat with another guy, his baton nowhere to be found. The dancer approaches from behind and wraps his arms around his waist, lifting them into the sky. Chan was dropped besides him, heaving out of tiredness. He stared at the dancer, scrunching his brows as if he was trying to remember something. The boy didn’t wait any longer and threw himself off the balcony again. 

“You alright?” Hyunjin asks, his hands on Chan’s face to check for injuries. Chan nodded silently, still breathing heavily and leaned into Hyunjin. He held up Chan’s weight for a bit before he heard Chaeyoung’s scream. He let go of Chan and peered over the balcony.

Chaeyoung’s arm was wrapped around her stomach, red staining against her pink silk. Changbin was checking on her, fighting off the dancer who was trying to drag him away. “Go Changbin!” she screamed in his face, turning around to swing her knife. The dancer wrapped his arms around his waist and started to float with Changbin flailing around in his grasp. 

“Captain!” He shouted, reaching out to her as he floated higher and higher. She blocked an incoming sword and held it there, turning around to look at Changbin. “Your duty is to protect them now. You don’t have to serve me anymore, I’ll be okay!”

“But Captain—” Changbin cried once more, now only a couple of feet away from the balcony that Hyunjin and Chan were watching from. Chaeyoung didn’t answer because the last two guys joined in the fight, surrounding her. The floating angel dropped Changbin off and a bright blue glow filled the first floor. Before their eyes could adjust to the change of lighting, a blast filled the room. Reinforcements were here.

The boys all got knocked onto the floor as the dust cloud made their way to the third floor. The dancer was the first one on his feet, grabbing Changbin’s arm. “Get them out of here. I’ll get her.”

Without another word, he falls off the balcony backwards. Changbin’s face was frantic, like he was fighting against himself. He looked like he was about to throw himself off the balcony too but he got to his feet and helped Chan and Hyunjin up. He pushed them away from the balcony and down a hallway of extra chairs and tables. He kept pushing them to move faster until they stopped in front of a black wall. Chan turned around and looked at him, bewildered. Changbin snarled, shoving them into the wall. It turned out to be curtains that hid a door a couple feet ahead of them. Hyunjin reached out and opened the door, blinding the three of them with bright lights. 

Both Chan and Hyunjin groan at the sudden change of lighting. The three of them stood in a long and empty hallway with wide windows in front of them. Hyunjin wanted to look out the windows, but was stopped by the bodyguard’s tight grip on his arm. He gestured the ladder to their right. “Climb it.”

“And where the hell are we going to go? The roof?” Hyunjin asked in a ridiculous tone. Changbin smiled painfully, his face filled with grief. “Captain knew a guy who’s ability was making doorways to another place.” 

Chan placed his hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. “She’s going to be okay.”

Changbin shrugs, not believing him. “Let’s go quickly before they find us. Felix will meet us on the other side.”

Chan’s eyes bulged into saucers. “Did you just say Felix?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe im back :D sorry updates are going to be slower from here on out. classes are getting hectic & im making my beta take long periods of rests bc she isnt feeling well. i hope you guys enjoyed this ch tho!! see you next ch :D

**Author's Note:**

> hehe so i hope you enjoyed that! i know it's pretty short but there's more to come so look out for that! thank u so much for reading, it means a lot :D


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